There is a growing need for people with English language skills in Ukraine. The government is currently working to make English more accessible to everyone.
This was announced on Telegram by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.
“We are preparing a draft law that, in particular, will consolidate English as a language of international communication,” Shmyhal said.
The Prime Minister added that the Cabinet is currently working on solutions that will make learning English more accessible to everyone.
“After the victory, we will launch a large-scale project to restore Ukraine. We expect a number of foreign companies and investors to come here to develop their business and create jobs. The English language opens up wide access to knowledge, the labor market, information and cultural products, and higher wages. Ukrainians should also benefit from these advantages, which will help establish Ukraine as a regional leader,” Shmyhal said.
Last August, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy drafted a bill to establish the special status of English in Ukraine as a language of international communication.
I disagree with this take, from several points of view:
The amount of media attention Ukraine has been getting the bast 1.5 years alone has lead to an increasing popularization of Ukrainian culture and Ukrainian language among foreigners. Just in December of last year it was reported that 1.3 million foreigners were studying the Ukrainian language on Duolingo
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to a lot of Ukrainian nationals who were either exclusively or primarily Russian speakers to renounce the Russian language and start speaking and learning Ukrainian
The patriotic sentiment that will dominate the country due to this war will lead to a revival of Ukrainian art, culture and language since there will be both a desire from Ukrainian nationals to preserve their national identity and everything that comes with it but also a desire from outsiders/foreigners to learn more about Ukraine, its language and culture
English is used as lingua franca all over Europe and it has not lead to the diminishing of national languages, if anything thanks to the EU there’s been an active effort to preserve and propagate local languages and culture.
My country has switched from French lingua franca to the Russian one and alter the English one over the past centuries, we have used Old Slavic in our churches, we have been under several imperial occupations and their attempts at erasing our language have amounted to nothing. Our language survived that, so will the Ukrainian one.
At best you can argue that there will be influence and all sorts of borrowed words seeping into Ukrainian language and culture. But that happens all over the place, in all countries, its how culture and people work.
good points.
:)
(wp:List of countries by English-speaking population)